Cable networks want to pull the plug on Time Warner Cable’s new iPad app for watching live TV.

A number of cable content providers are crying foul over the just-released app, saying Time Warner Cable doesn’t have the right to stream their programming under the terms of their existing contracts.

Viacom and Discovery Communications are among those that believe they should be paid extra for the streaming rights to their channels, sources close to the situation told The Post.

The New York-based cable operator, however, contends its agreements with programmers give it the right to distribute the content on any screen inside a customer’s home — iPads included.

Industry insiders are predicting a flurry of cease-and-desist letters and potential lawsuits.

“Our agreement doesn’t cover tablet distribution,” said one cable-programming exec, who said the two sides are trying to resolve the issue. “There are a lot of phone calls right now.”

The app, which allows Time Warner Cable customers to watch 32 cable networks, including Viacom’s MTV and Discovery’s Animal Planet, quickly became the most downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store on Tuesday. It crashed the first night due to overwhelming demand.

“We were pretty sure that our iPad app was going to be fairly popular, but we had no idea that it was going to be the most downloaded app in the iTunes store yesterday,” Time Warner Cable’s Jeff Simmermon said in a blog post. “The demand was overwhelming.”

The app crashed at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Simmermon, but Time Warner engineers had restored access by noon yesterday.

The firm’s “TV Everywhere” app is available to customers when they connect to the Web using TWC’s high-speed Internet service.

Comcast said it would make its Xfinity TV app available later this year.

Both companies are running into static over distribution rights since the iPad was launched last April. Most programming contracts were inked before tablets existed.

Cable content executives aren’t all of the same view, however. Time Warner’s CEO, Jeff Bewkes, has been a broad proponent of making its channels available wherever the consumer wants them. catkinson@nypost.com